Recent technological advances have made communication devices ubiquitous. Each device may satisfy a respective different aspect of the communication needs of a user. For example, a person may have a number of communication devices at his or her disposal. The person may communicate using, among other things, a telephone, a wireless unit, a pager, a facsimile (fax) machine, or a personal digital assistant (PDA). The person also may use a computer or other device to provide information and to communicate using a web site, electronic mail (e-mail) messages, instant messages, or chat room messages. Accordingly, a person may send and receive a lot of communications using a variety of devices.
Typically, a person with a variety of communication devices has to individually monitor each of his or her devices, thereby expending significant time and effort. If the person cannot handle a communication in a “live” fashion on any particular device, a message, note, or other record may be made of the attempted communication. Thus, the monitoring of the communication devices also may require monitoring of the devices for messages for the user. Generally, a person uses his or her communication devices in an ad hoc manner, and so, the monitoring of messages across the variety of devices also may be done in an ad hoc manner. Thus, there is a need for a better way to keep track of all of the communications of a person.
As noted, an attempt at communication with a person may be recorded or otherwise noted in a message that may be later accessed by the person. For example, a caller may leave the person a message on his or her voicemail system. Also, a communication such as an e-mail message or a fax may leave its own record of communication. But certain types of communications and communication devices typically do not leave their own records or allow for a message to be left for the person. Thus, these “non-recorded” communications are difficult to find out about, to track, or to review. For example, a person makes a telephone call to a friend, but the friend does not answer and does not have any answering system. The person generally does not have a way to keep track of the call attempts the person has made. As another example, assume the person has enabled an instant messaging service while working on his or her computer. Typically, there is no record made of an instant message that is sent or received. As yet another example, assume the person engages in a chat room discussion by using his or her computer. Generally, the person's participation in the chat room discussion is not noted or otherwise recorded. The communications and communication devices that do not leave their own records or allow for a record, note, or message are referred to herein as “non-record” communications or “non-record” communication devices.
The inability to keep track of certain types of communications can prove a disadvantage—especially in business circumstances. For example, a person may be negotiating a deal involving multiple parties. Each party participates in the negotiations by using his or her own preferred communication means and devices. The person may have a log of e-mails, an answering machine full of voice mail messages, and a stack of faxes relating to the negotiations. But one of the parties may be participating in the negotiations by using some type of communications device or mechanism that does not allow for records or logs of that type of communications. So, the person's attempts at communication with the “non-record” party may not be noted by the non-record party. The non-record party may be suspicious that such attempts at communication were ever made. But the person has no way to prove he or she made the attempts. The person is at a disadvantage because he or she cannot keep track of, access, or review the attempts at communicating with the “non-record” party. The inability to be able to keep track of, access, or review these “non-record” communications can lead to miscommunication, misunderstanding, missed opportunities, and even frustration. Thus, there is a need for a way to keep track of the communications of a person including non-record communications and communications made to and/or from the non-record communication devices.
Some disadvantages of the non-record communications and non-record communication devices have been noted. But even communications that leave a record (such as an e-mail) have disadvantages. For example, an e-mail message may refer to a specific topic, and it would be to the person's advantage to review other data related to the specific topic. Moreover, it would be advantageous to carry out such a review as quickly and efficiently as possible. For example, a message may refer to a work document, an electronic publication, or a web page which may be shared between the person and his or her communication partners. Using conventional methods, the person must individually identify, search and retrieve the work document. The activities carried out to obtain the work document may be time consuming, inefficient, and otherwise frustrating. Thus, there is a need to provide a person with information related to a message in an efficient and quick manner.
As noted, a person generally has a lot of different types of communication devices. The person may prefer to receive certain types of communications through a certain type of device or at a certain time. The person may prefer not to receive communications of a certain type or during a certain time. Thus, there is a need for a way to manage the communications of a person so that his or her preferences are respected and are automatically implemented.
Similarly, family members, friends, business colleagues and other communicating partners of a person may have their respective communication preferences. The person could try to memorize all of the preferences. But that may be a lot of information to keep track of, and it may be easy to make errors. For example, a client may prefer to receive communications via his or her voicemail box. If the person sends an e-mail message to the client, there may arise a delay in communication. In addition, by sending the e-mail rather than leaving a voicemail message, the person may convey the impression that the person is insensitive to the client's preferences. Neither result is desirable. Thus, there is a need for a way to manage the communications of a person so that communications made to communicating partners are made automatically in accordance with the preferences of the respective communicating partner.
In sum, there is a need for a unified messaging system that keeps track of all of a person's communications without the person having to monitor each of his or her communication devices including non-record communications and communications made to and/or from the non-record communication devices. There is also a need for a way to manage the communications of a person so that his or her preferences are respected and are automatically implemented. In addition, there is a need for a way to manage the communications of a person so that communications made to communicating partners are generally made automatically in accordance with the preferences of the respective communicating partner.